Friday, March 6, 2015

When Light is Dark


The idea of this article comes from a video of Sadhguru entiteled "Enlightenment or Endarkenment? Which is Right?"  This video reminded me of an Osho discourse  about Darkness and Light. It also reminded me a documentary about the Sun and suggested to me an analogy between the Photon journey from the core of the Sun and a Human Being journey in this Life. Enjoy the reading and the videos !








1- Invisible Light

In this video, the amazing Yogi and Living Master, Sadhguru explains that Enlightenment or any other word is just a signpost used to indicate which cannot be described by any word from this world. Sadhguru talks about light which remains invisible unless it is reflected by something. In fact photons, the little particles of energy, transporting what we call light, are simply invisible ... unless they hit an object. This object can be either your eye if you’re looking at the source of the photon; or it can be any material object reflecting the photons. The photon materialize itself for the eye when it hits an object, otherwise it is invisible.

The astronauts in the outer space far from the atmosphere are in complete darkness even when the sun is shining. The absence of the air and little particles of dust in suspension in it, they can't see sun's rays. So in the outer space there is no light. It's absolute darkness, despite trillions of photons and other energetic particles are traveling from every where ! It's an amazing thing that light and darkness are so entangled ! In the absence of any object, light is not distinguished from Darkness, it melts with it.

In a beautiful discourse, Osho talked about Darkness as  "The Substance Existence is Made Of". Not only Light is dark but "Darkness is a Deeper Phenomenon than Light" said Osho. Light goes on and off, but Darkness is always there. Light has some source generating it, but Darkness is Eternal. Sadhguru continued in the same manner: Light has the biggest speed known in this world, but still has a limited speed and needs time to travel from point A to point B. But Darkness is every where.
Composition of the Universe upon NASA WMAP probe

In fact Darkness is the symbol of the unknown for humanity. In Science we call “Black hole” this phenomenon we try to understand and still blows up our physics equations. In Cosmology, Scientists are talking about Dark Matter and Dark Energy. In this NASA website, the latest measurements of WMAP probe demonstrate that only 4.6% of the stuff making the Universe is made of Atoms. 24% is Dark Matter, which is an unknown form of matter. Without considering it; all the Structures in the Universe like Galaxies will collapse. 71.4% is Dark Energy, which is an unknown form of energy. This energy is a kind of anti-gravity that goes on expanding the whole Universe.

Light is the source of all kind of Life we know on Earth. Without solar rays, it’s impossible for Life to be born and grow up on Earth. And if the Sun disappears, all forms of Life on Earth will die. But Darkness seems to be the womb of the Light, the matrix where Life can take place. Without Darkness, nothing can ever take place …


2- The Photon's Journey and The Seeker's Path

In this Documentary entitled "Journey From The Center of the Sun", the journey of photons born in the core of the Sun is described. Generated from nuclear reactions, photons are produced as high energetic Gamma Rays. They leave Sun’s Core at light speed but are immediately faced with very dense and chaotic upper layers of the Sun. The photons bounce here and there, are absorbed by this atom and then ejected to be caught by the other atom and so on. At each absorption/ejection a part of its energy is absorbed until it attains the Sun surface as a low level energy photon we called Visible Light. This journey between the generation at Sun’s Core and Liberation at the surface of the Sun could take thousands of years and even a billion years ! After that the photon can head towards a planet of solar system  or travel across the entire universe and melt with it!

When I saw this documentary for the first time, tears came to my eyes and I started crying like a child. I didn’t realize then why this journey of photons touched so deep my heart. Now I can see the parallel I can make with human Consciousness journey in this Life.

The real self of a human being is his Consciousness, his Awareness. We can’t define it or grasp it but we can make an analogy with the photon, the Particle of Light. 

  • Like the photon, our Consciousness travels and hits various kind of Life forms, from the more dense, like the rocks to the more subtle like human being body and mind. 
  • Like the photon, it can be a very long journey from the dense core of the Sun before the liberation at the surface of our home star. The same with our Consciousness, it evolves from the extra dense to the ultra subtle before it realizes its Liberation, its Enlightenment. 
  • Like the photon, our journey seems to be an endless and chaotic journey, but in fact it is pulled with an invisible force towards the surface, towards the Liberation. 
  • Like the photon which is absorbed by atoms before its ejection, our consciousness is absorbed by various kind of Life until the last and most evolved form of Life, the human being. During this temporary merging with Life forms, we can lose ourselves and be identified with the temporary form, but we should know that our Consciousness is eternal, unbound and aiming to its ultimate merging with the entire Universe.
Of course this analogy with Light or Photon is just a metaphor. Let's not seek any truth in it. Truth is to be searched deep inside each one of us. Without any preconceived idea. The entire Universe is reflected within us. Just let's close our eyes, relax our body and mind. Then wait.  Let's our Consciousness accommodate with Emptiness. Let's our inner eyes accommodate with Darkness, the Source of all what is.

Saturday, December 20, 2014

Let Our True Self Shine !

Dr Ron Hulnick, USM presenting human levels of consciousness
Recently I had the opportunity to attend an amazing free online course offered by University of Santa Monica. During this introduction to Spiritual Psychology, Dr Ron Hulnick takled about resolving psychological issues and presented a model of human consciousness (see image shown against).

Later this model inspired me a parallel we can make between these layers of human consciousness and the word "Nafs" (self) used in Quran. This is what I'd like to share with you. 

1) Human Being Model

The model of Dr Hulnick is what many spiritual teachers stress about human consciousness : the more you go inside the more you discover subtle layers of consciousness. So this is my own  version of the model presented by Dr Hulnick  :
A Spiritual Model of a Human Being Consciousness

  • At the top we find our physical body and sens perceptions. It is our anchor in this life, whenever we are lost in our mind and emotions. Just a few conscious breaths or paying attention to our sens perceptions, and again we are here and now; connected to real world. The thoughts simply fade away.This technique is really magic, it is like we power off the stream of thinking just by a little conscious breathing. Our physical body is our biggest gift given by God (or Universe if you prefer). It let us be rooted in reality and make us part of this great and beautiful symphony playing across the entire universe.
  • Just below the body there is a huge world : Mind. What a beautiful creation of the Universe ! A more recent creation of the Universe comparing to the body. It is mind which allows us to create many beautiful things on this Planet. Mind, in the hands of a conscious being, is a wonderful tool. But as a Master of our being, it is a curse ! Lost in our Thinking Mind, we become uprooted from this Universe. Surfing mind thoughts can lead us to a scary world full of fear, anger, war, etc.
  • Below Mind, there is the vast realm of Emotions. More subtle energy than Mind, emotions are more fleeting and more powerful too ! If Mind need a few seconds to think, an emotion is almost instant. An emotion can be so violent to create a flow of thoughts and even manifest at the body level. Emotions can also be very subtle and persistent and poisons a human being  life without noticing it. Of course, Mind and Emotions feed each other. A simple thought can create a profound emotion and vice-versa.
  • Below Emotions there is a huge realm of darkness, the so called Unconscious. Our being is not aware of its content. It is made of very subtle energies made of past emotions or thoughts, either personal or collective. Our repressions go there too, feeding this huge dark "tank". Since it is unconscious, we can't observe it as we can do with the upper layers. But we can witness indirectly its manifestations. From time to time, triggered by some event, out of the blue, a very subtle emotion or thought bubbles from Unconscious and manifest itself. Later (may be in no time) it amplifies in upper layers and becomes stronger. A meditative consciousness can notice this bubbling from its beginning. A less consciousness human being can act following the blue print of this subtle thought without knowing its origin.
  • Beyond these layers there is our true self. It is this very consciousness which allows all the above layers to exist and to interact. Usually overlooked by human beings, but it is our true nature. Our true self is an infinite entity connected to the whole Universe. Its brightness shines from time to time through the physical body; when the intermediary layers are less agitated. It is the source of all creativity in this world. A scientist or an artist tap some glimpses from this vast source. After that, they manifest it in the form of a piece of art or science using the Mind and the Body.

2) Human Consciousness and "Nafs", or Self in Quran

I discover an amazing thing : Quran is talking about at least three kind of "Nafs" or Self :

  • Annafs Allawama or Blaming Self : "(2) وَلَا أُقْسِمُ بِالنَّفْسِ اللَّوَّامَةِ " in Surat Al-Qiyama (79).
  • Annafs Al Ammara bi sou' or Tempting Self : "وَمَا أُبَرِّئُ نَفْسِي ۚ إِنَّ النَّفْسَ لَأَمَّارَةٌ بِالسُّوءِ إِلَّا مَا رَحِمَ رَبِّي ۚ إِنَّ رَبِّي غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ (53)" in Surat Yusuf (12)
  • Annafs Al Moutmainna or Peaceful Self : "يَا أَيَّتُهَا النَّفْسُ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ (27) ارْجِعِي إِلَىٰ رَبِّكِ رَاضِيَةً مَّرْضِيَّةً (28) فَادْخُلِي فِي عِبَادِي (29) وَادْخُلِي جَنَّتِي (30)"  in Surat Alfajr (89)
Now the diagram of the previous section is remade using these three kind of Nafs :
Spiritual Human Being Consciousness Model translated in Arabic
Dr Ron stress the following  fact conveyed by all spiritual teachers : all the layers above true Self are the realm of duality : good/bad, beautiful/ugly, hot/cold, etc. But the true Self transcends all these dualities : it is a realm of Peace and Oneness : this for me the "Peaceful Self" (Annafs Moutmainna)  mentioned in the Quran. The realm of duality is in continuous tension between  the two other kind of Self : the Tempting and the Blaming Selves . The meaning of the end of Surat Alfajr may be that the way to Paradise is to transcend this duality and be aware of this non dualistic and peaceful Self.

3) Let Our True Self Shine

The previous diagram shows also an excerpt from Surat Annour Aya 40 which says :

أَوْ كَظُلُمَاتٍ فِي بَحْرٍ لُّجِّيٍّ يَغْشَاهُ مَوْجٌ مِّن فَوْقِهِ مَوْجٌ مِّن فَوْقِهِ سَحَابٌ ۚ ظُلُمَاتٌ بَعْضُهَا فَوْقَ بَعْضٍ إِذَا أَخْرَجَ يَدَهُ لَمْ يَكَدْ يَرَاهَا ۗ وَمَن لَّمْ يَجْعَلِ اللَّهُ لَهُ نُورًا فَمَا لَهُ مِن نُّورٍ (40)
which can be translated as :
Or [they are] like darknesses within an unfathomable sea which is covered by waves, upon which are waves, over which are clouds - darknesses, some of them upon others. When one puts out his hand [therein], he can hardly see it. And he to whom Allah has not granted light - for him there is no light.
So the "... waves, upon which are waves, over which are clouds" sound for me like the three layers of "Ripples of Unconscious", "Ripples of Emotions" and "Clouds of Thoughts". I love this parallel since usually spiritual teachers talked about ripples or clouds in our layers of consciousness covering our true being. If the surface of the ocean is calm and the sky is clear, the stars become visible and we can see through water...

So to let the light of our true being shine through the layers of our consciousness. And there is a golden way to achieve this : witnessing (not lost in) our Mind and being watchful of (not following) our Emotions. By doing so, we will be again transparent to the light, our inner light...

... and this is what Meditation or Sufi Dhikr is all about ...

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Are You Enlightened ?

The Spiritual Magic Quadrant (see below in this article)

The answer of this question is simple : Yes, every human being is already enlightened !  There is nothing lacking in his being. But the real question is “have you Realized your Enlightenment ?”. Of course, very few persons in all history of this planet have realized their enlightenment. So, this article is about Enlightenment Realization. It first tries to define in general terms this state of human consciousness. Then we will see the process leading to the realization of her or his enlightenment. In the conclusion, we will discuss The Light Criteria. These are questions meant to help us having an insight into our own state of consciousness. There is no problem when you realize you enlightenment, you will know it for sure. But the danger is before this realization. You can stuck somewhere in the path. You may also have beautiful and realistic dreams. So the Light Criteria can help us avoid these pitfalls.
This article is divided into two parts and a conclusion, as follows :

Table of Contents



1- What is enlightenment ?

1.1- The Light Being

An enlightened person is a human being who has attained to clarity of Mind. He is no more darkened by any thought. All his being is crystal clear. There is no dark corner in his body-mind. A dark corner is a poetic image to describe some hidden patterns located deep down in the layers of mind and acting from there. So from time to time, these hidden patterns take possession of the human being who starts acting unknowingly and accordingly to these hidden mind blue prints. An enlightened being never acts like an automaton from learned memories or embedded thoughts or emotions. Instead he responds freshly to any situation. So he is as unpredictable as Life is.

1.2- The Hollow Bamboo

The great curse in human being is their ego. But the ego has no real existence; it is just the process of continuous thinking. And human beings are deriving their personality from thinking, from mind : their story, their family, education, beliefs, etc.
In the other hand, an enlightened human being has no more compulsive thinking. His mind is quite. He is using his mind when needed, otherwise, there is no need. So an enlightened person has no ego. He has disappeared as far as the individuality derived from mind is concerned. He has died to the past and never projects himself in the future. The psychological time has stopped for him. He lives in the present moment.
In this state of no thinking, the enlightened being becomes a hollow bamboo; in total tune with the Universe. And when the Universe, or God wants to express himself through this person, there is no hindrances. God can sing any song through him. The enlightened person is no more a doer. God's light shines through him.

1.3- The Consciousness Flower

The science can trace Life Evolution from the Big Bang with its tremendous, inconceivable and undifferentiated Energy to the richness and complexity of Life on Earth today. Human beings, on Planet Earth seam to be on the top of this evolution of Life. But the majority of humanity as we know it is not the last stage of evolution. Some rare individuals has attained the next step of evolution : the consciousness aware of itself. As human being we are conscious of the outer world. We can also direct our mind to observe itself, to analyze itself. But this is not a real self awareness. In fact when the subject (observer) and the object (observed) merge and become one, there is the self awareness of consciousness. And this the ultimate flowering of Life as we know it.

1.4- The Religious

All prophets are enlightened persons. All prophets tap in the same source. Of course when expressed in human languages and in different circumstances their teachings take different and often contradictory forms. But in fact the contradiction is just on the surface. Moreover, sometimes it is hard to bring some experiences to people with limited understanding. So the enlightened prophets use parables to facilitate the understanding or use them as signposts to the Truth. Later, these parables are interpreted literally and this one explanation why there are so many religions despite their unique source. Only an enlightened person is really a religious since he is all the time in tune with the Universe. We can also access this dimension temporarily. During these moments we are religious. True religion is not the practice of a ritual. No, rituals are just devices created by enlightened persons to help human beings accessing religiosity. They are not the goal but a mean.

1.5- The Eternal

An enlightened person realizes and knows first hand that his is not his body/mind, he is not the form Life has taken in him. His body is born and will die but he know that he is Life. He is never born and will never die. Time has stopped for him. He is in the eternal present moment witnessing the unfolding of his own life situation. An enlightened person realizes that his real being was always here and now, without any beginning nor any end. He realizes also that he is not separate from Life itself. So he has always enjoyed all life forms.

1.6- The Blissful

You can be happy, but happiness passes. You can enjoy experiencing an object, but this joy will subside when the object is no more or has lost its novelty. But blissfulness is out of emptiness. It is not a by product of any thing of this world. It is a flowering of meditation, of nothingness. Bliss comes out of the realization of his oneness with the whole Universe. The joy of Life bubbling everywhere in the Universe is simply felt in the core of the enlightened being.
Also the transcendence of Life itself and the communion with the Beyond is probably the real source of bliss.

1.7- The Miraculous

The enlightened person is no more as an ego. He is no more a doer. He is just a witness. And the miracles happen around him. He is attracting divine energy and dispatching it around him. The ego creates a barrier and no ego create a natural low potential energy attracting the Energy of Universe. Life is a miracle. Creation is an ongoing miracle. And an enlightened person is co creator with God. Not by doing. Just by being. Since he is available, vulnerable, Life uses him as a vehicle for its creations, its transformations.

1.8- The One

As human mind is concerned, we are not one but many. Our mind is a flux, a set of contradictory thoughts, each pulling us in its direction. But an enlightened person is one. He is no more identified with any idea, how can any thought pull him any more ? He is self centered and one. He has also a knowing, a realization that his is one with the whole Life, the whole Universe. This oneness is not an idea in his mind but his own realization.

2- On the Path to The Realization

2.1- The Awakening

The awakening is the most important milestone in the lifetime of a human being. Awakening simply means that the human being is no more totally identified with his mind. There are now breaches in his ego, aka identification with mind. He knows that he is not the content of his mind. The enlightenment is instant but the awakening is a process. During this process there is more and more dis identification from mind, but the human being can fall again and again in his sleep or his dream like life.
The awakening is a great blessing since the experience of life is far more better during the awakening process. The awakening is the real start of spiritual search. Many so called seekers are just in an ego trip. They are still identified with the content of their mind. But a real spiritual seeker don't believe any more what happens in his mind. Even when he is trapped in his mind, a moment later he is again aware of this trap. By this awareness he is no more fueling thoughts in his Mind. One day, when the natural conditions are there he will realize, instantly, his enlightenment. It is like heating or cooling water; when pressure and temperature are at the right amount, the water evaporates or crystallized instantly. The equivalent of heating/cooling is awareness. The more you are aware and dis identified from your mind the more you are nearer to “natural conditions” of enlightenment realization.

2.2- The Spiritual Magic Quadrant

The company Gartner has devised a technique for classifying businesses in information technology domains, called Gartner Magic Quadrant. I would like to use a similar presentation in spiritual matter, with the following picture :
The Spiritual Magic Quadrant
The horizontal axis is about Awareness and Knowing (not knowledge). When you go to the right you are more aware and you know deeper by your Being not your Mind.
The vertical axis is about Separateness and Happiness. When you go to the top you feel more oneness and more blissfulness.
So the four categories defined by this Spiritual Magic Quadrant are as follows:
  1. The Happy Ignorants : they are all the living and creatures below the man consciousness. They are not aware of themselves and the world as the man is. In the other hand they have no ego, so they feel the oneness with the Universe and its consequence : blissfulness. In this category, animals are more aware then plants but the latter are less suffering.
  2. The Unhappy Ignorants : this is the worse category : almost as ignorants as the animals but because of their ego, they are feeling separate from the Universe with its consequence : feeling threatened, unhappy and suffering. In the bottom of this category there is the Egoic  Man : he suffers the most and can't see reality as it is. He looks through thick clouds of thoughts, judgments, knowledge, scriptures, etc. He misses completely the reality. The Spiritual Seekers has less and less ego. The less is his ego the more is his happiness and the more is his knowing of the reality without Egoic Mind Distortion.
  3. The Unhappy Knowers : all spiritual seekers attain to this category sooner or later. Their Mind become almost quite. They have clarity in their vision to reality since their Egoic Mind is almost nil. But there is still a slight ego giving the seeker still a feeling of separateness. He has not disappeared utterly. He is happier than the former category but he don't know real bliss. This state is very dangerous since the seeker has progressed tremendously in his path but he is still in the horizontal time line. He can still regress to the lower category. Many seekers stay stuck in this category for many lifetimes. They have not yet realized their enlightenment, even if they are far more advanced than the previous category. Here, the help of a master is needed to take the last jump.
  4. The Blissful Knowers : This is the category of Enlightened Persons. In fact we are here in another dimension of consciousness which can't be depicted in a picture. Here the Man, fully aware and awakened, Knows Himself. He is also blissful. When arriving to this category, it is a vertical transition, we can't fall to a lower category. It is impossible. So An enlightened person can't any more “downgrade” himself to the unhappy man. But amazingly, because of the realization of oneness, he can express himself through a wind breeze, a cloud in the sky, a shining star, a blade of grass or even through a horse, a dog or a cat. He can shine through them, but he can't pass the layers of an egoic mind. This is perhaps the meaning behind parables of mystics coming as dogs or other animals.

2.3- Satori and Samadi

The Samadi in eastern traditions means the realization of one's enlightenment. It is like an explosion of consciousness who becomes aware of itself. It is self awareness. With his first Samadi a human being becomes an enlightened person. He can't regress to a lower level of consciousness. He is no more of this world. He can't any more be identified with any Mind or any Body. He is one with the source of Life. An enlightened person can have many Samadis. With each Samadi he is accessing greater levels of consciousness.
In Sufi tradition the equivalent of Samadi is “Al Fath الفتح” or “Opening”. A human being who has attained to “Al Fath” becomes “Aref billah عارف بالله” or “A Knower (of God)”. The enlightened person knows God. Knows Himself.

Satori in eastern traditions is a glimpse of Samadi. Sometimes when the conditions are there, the seeker realizes a silent mind. Realizes the blissfulness. Realizes the Oneness. In short, he accesses momentarily the Samadi or Enlightenment state. Even if it is not permanent, when a seeker has his first Satori it is a great event in his path. With Satori he knows what does it means Samadi. So he is confirmed in his search.
In Sufi tradition the equivalent of Satori is “Al Hal"  or "الحال" which can be translated as “State” or “Situation”. The word “Al Hal” has the meaning of impermanence like in the word Satori. So each seeker, becoming more and more aware of his being, he can have one or many Satoris. Each Satori is longer and deeper that the previous one. When he is ready, he has his Samadi. He is enlightened.
All enlightened persons don't have Satoris. They can have directly their Samadi and become instantly Enlightened.

2.4- Enlightenment Pitfalls

There are many pitfalls which can prevent a seeker from realizing his enlightenment. Here are some of them :
  • blissfulness and silence : when the mind becomes more and more silent, there is a moment where almost no thought arises in human mind. This is a moment of great bliss, great peace. Very pleasant. And the seeker can stay there enjoying but his ego has not utterly disappeared. There is still a very slight ego. This is the trap : the seeker has to go ahead, to move, not to stay in this state. Since if he don't continue to the ocean, his calm and beautiful lake will soon loose his freshness and become rotten. Which means that the ego can again return to the command of his being.
  • Fear the take the last jump : when the Samadi is there it is a total annihilation, an utter disappearance far more deep than any previous death. At this moment, the seeker can lack the guts to make the last jump... he will miss. Osho put this in a beautiful image when he said “That is the ultimate death. It appears like the ultimate death. Even the Ganges shudders, trembles before it falls; even the Ganges looks backwards, thinks of past days and memories, and the beautiful time on the plains and the tremendous energy phenomenon in the hills and the glaciers. At the last moment when the Ganges is going to fall into the ocean, it lingers a little while more. It wants to look back, think over memories, beautiful experiences. That has to be also watched. Don’t linger. When the ocean comes, allow: merge, melt, disappear !
  • Miracles doer : when the seeker starts having Satoris, many miracles can happen around him. He can also have new capabilities. Of course, he is not a doer. It happens because his ego is no more there to prevent what the Universe wants to do. But if the seeker think that he is a doer, that he can “use” or “exploit” his new capabilities, he is lost. He can still for a more little time “do” miracles, but he is fueling again his ego, and one day he will become again fast asleep with a new “spiritual” ego far more dangerous than the previous “materialist” ego.
  • Mind Projections : this is perhaps the most hidden and hazardous pitfall. Since the Mind is threatened by the process of awakening and the Mind is very powerful, very cunning, it can lead the seeker in false routes, in beautiful ego trips painted with “spiritual” dreams. If really you “will” attain something, the Mind will create this thing for you. For example you know that “blissfulness” is a trait of an enlightened being, so your mind will make you happy. He will help you to believe that you are in continuous and eternal bliss. Even if there is sometimes real sadness, the Mind will help you repressing this sadness and saying to yourself “I am happy”. Or it can convince you that it is out of your compassion that you are sad : "You are sad because of other's suffering, but really your are blissful" ! So instead of taking this authentic sadness as a hint that you are still in the path, that you should navigate this ripple on the surface to go deeper in your being, you are not true to yourself and you prefer following your Mind Projection. I can't list here all Mind Projections that our mind can make to delude us, but if we are true to ourselves, if we are systematically doubtful about any thing we can see, grasp or understand with our Mind, we can avoid this trap.

2.5- The Master, A Guide In The Path

The master is a must for a seeker. You can't realize your enlightenment without the guidance of a master. The master can help you not to fall in the pitfalls exposed in the previous paragraph. Every seeker is confused since he has no more confidence in his mind. He knows very well that realizing the Truth is far beyond mind, how can he trust the mind ? So confusion is the natural consequence of taking the path to self realization. This is also a good criterion to know if you have not caught a new “spiritual” ego. If you are not confused, if you have crystal clear ideas about your path, then know well that your ideas are simply a newer ego. Be careful of this trap. So it is natural that you are confused as a seeker. The master is always here to send you, directly in your heart some signs to help you to be more confident and trust your heart. Confusion is still there in the Mind but the heart is more and more confident. He knows that he is on the right path.

We saw also that enlightenment is a natural phenomenon. It is an evolutionary state of Life which will come sooner or later to every human being. But the natural path can be very, very long. The master's teaching is a shortcut in the path to enlightenment realization. Otherwise the natural course of things can take countless lifetimes before awakening. But when you are awaken, there is no difference if you have realized it in one hundred or one billion lifetimes. When you realize your eternity, time has no meaning. But the master, when he sees our suffering, and he has realized the bliss, he wants to help us by his teaching to shorten our suffering. He is still a human being, he has just extinguished his ego, so he knows very well our problems, our suffering and out of compassion he offers us a shortcut in our natural path to enlightenment.

The great question is how to find a master ? With all fake gurus and false masters in this world, how can a seeker find a real master ? The answer is simple : you can't find a master. The master only can and will find you. There is always a master for a true seeker. The problem is not the fake master but the false seeker. You can be in presence of a real master and miss him. It happens all the time. So the first step to “find” your master is to be more and more aware of your mind, your emotions and listen to your heart. You have to develop the sensitivity to listen to the master present in your own heart. In the beginning the master's voice in your heart will be hardly audible. But by silencing your mind you will be more and more able to hear your master's voice. And when you are really ready to take the jump, the master will be there to guide you. In the Sufi tradition the master who appears systematically to every true seeker who becomes ready is named “Khidr or Khadir”. “Khadir” is not a historical person who guided Moses. No, it is a “generic” name of the master who appears to every seeker when the time is right.
So instead of searching for a master outside, start by hearing you inner master.

2.6- Masters and Frequency Holders

All enlightened persons are not masters. A master is an enlightened person who the Universe or God uses to spread a kind of teaching when the Universe knows it is useful to do so. But many enlightened persons are not known at all. They are persons living an ordinary life in their societies. They have no apparent contribution to humanity. In fact they are a great blessing for all the living on the Planet. Eckhart Tolle used to call them “Frequency Holders” since they are attracting and keeping stillness on Earth. Their light beings is capable, naturally, of pouring God's Love and blessing to all livings beings on Earth. So don't be deluded by the outside appearance of human beings. Some of them are really of the same caliber of great masters like the Buddha, Jesus or Mohamed but they live a simple and discrete life as shop keepers, artisans, farmers, etc.

3- Conclusion : The Light Criteria

The following criteria  :
  • Are not meant to judge other's enlightenment. Since it is none of your business if others are enlightened or not.
  • Are not meant either to know if you are enlightened. Since when you will realize your enlightenment, you will know it for sure and you will not need any kind of mind stuff, like this article, to know if you have really realized or not.
  • But they can be helpful to know that you have not yet realized your enlightenment !
May I also remind you of the instant aspect of Realization Of Enlightenment. You cannot Realize progressively, in the time. It is timeless and instant. The process of awakening is in the horizontal time, you can progress (or regress) in this time-line. But when you Realize, it is a sudden shift from 0% to 100% with no intermediate states nor possibility of regression to a lower state of consciousness. So if one of the following criteria is not fulfilled, you have not realized. You are still a seeker on the path. You can be more or less advanced than others but you are still in this world, sharing the same level of “(un)consciousness” as the common earthling. Your ego is still there. But even the slightest ego can be a seed to a big strong ego ... later in the time.

The following Light Criteria are simply the opposites of the traits exposed in the first paragraph.
  1. If you are still subject from time to time to a repetitive pattern of your being triggered by some external or internal stimulus, then you have not yet realized. No matter if you can repress this pattern and hide it from others. Be true to yourself. An enlightened person is aware of the pattern from its birth deep down in the layers of his being. He is watchful of it from the beginning and he can choose to play it or not. But he can't be trapped in a moment of non awareness and find himself playing, then repressing the mind pattern. In the criterion above I talked about “external or internal” stimulus. External is clear : an interaction with others provoke the Mind Pattern. The internal could be a simple thought coming to your mind and automatically triggering an internal reaction due to a hidden Mind Pattern.
  2. If there the slightest thought that you are identified with, you have not yet realized. No matter if the thought is good or bad, spiritual or mundane. You can't have any mind definition of who you really are. If, for example, you have a clear idea in your mind of the “purpose” of your life, then you have not yet realized.
  3. If there is still in yourself an “observer” and an “observed”, then you have not yet realized. The Realization is a strange state beyond conventional Mind where the energy which usually “shines” from mind to the objects to light them and know them. Instead of this linear light originating from the mind, in self realization, the light of the mind is turning back to know itself and merge with itself. This phenomenon is unknown for conventional human mind. So if you still conceive yourself as an object in your mind, be it a sophisticated object, be it the ultimate scientific conceptual object, then you have not yet realized.
  4. If you are not a total witness of you own life situation, then you have not yet realized. If you are still a doer, not a witness of you own life, then you have not yet realized. If, for example, your body is asleep and you are not there as a witness enjoying seeing your body taking a rest, then you have not yet realized. If you are interacting in a usual life situation, for example talking to somebody and you are not there witnessing both the other and yourself while they are discussing, then you have not yet realized.
  5. If you have not realized your eternity, then you have not yet realized. If the past and future are more meaningful than the eternal present, then you have not yet realized. If you can't see yourself witnessing your true Life beyond your birth and death of your body, then you have not yet realized.
  6. If your blissfulness comes not out of emptiness, then you have not yet realized. If you are blissful because of some external or internal object, thought, situation, then you have not yet realized. The bliss of an enlightened person is flowing from nothing. If there is something behind your happiness, then you have not yet realized.
  7. If you do miracles, then you have not yet realized. Miracles are bound to happen to an enlightened person, but he is not a doer. He is just a witness. If there is in you the slightest thought, pride or joy that you are, in some extent, behind some miracle;  either in your being or in your surrounding, then you have not yet realized.
  8. If you are many, then you have not yet realized. Many start with two. If you see in this world at least two entities : yourself and the rest of the universe, then you have not yet realized. The enlightened person come to realize deeply, not to understand intellectually, that he is not separate from anything in this Universe. He realizes deep in his being that he is one with the blade of grass under his feet and one with the far galaxy in the sky. When you are one with something you can sense your influence on it and its actions on you.
  9. If you pass successfully all the eight criteria exposed above, it is not a guaranty that you have realized since your Mind can make a story around all these subjects and make you believe in this story.
So no need to stress that it is almost impossible to say if you have realized or not until the last final step. And this is why a master is needed. To push you and prevent you from resting too soon. And this is also why your master will find you when you are ready to take the last jump. Not before. When the right time is there, you will die. Utterly die. A total annihilation. And when you are no more, you will be born as God. The Sufi poem says :
حتى تفنى فى الله *** ثم تبقى بالله
which can be translated “Until you disappear (fana) in God, then you stay (baqa) by/as God”. The literal translation of “بالله" is “by God” but I added “As God” since the Sufi Poems have always many layers of understanding. I have the feeling that the keyword here is “تبقى” from “baqa بقاء”and in Islamic tradition “Albaqi” is a name of God since He is the only Being who survives all other things in the Universe. So when you disappear, you become “Albaqi”, hence my translation “As God”.

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

How to play your inner music ?

Image Source 
I took a music CD in my hands and looked at it with new eyes. And something beautiful revealed itself to me. This what I would like to share with you in this text.

A simple meditation

It is a beautiful meditation to consider usual objects with wonder as if it is the first time you discover them. Eckhart Tolle invites us to practice this simple meditation : see ordinary objects with new eyes. It is a valuable meditation since you are more aware during these moments of fresh look. You act less like a robot and more like a human baby discovering and enjoying every thing in Life.
So, this afternoon,  I did this meditation with an ordinary music CD containing some spiritual songs ("amdah nabawya" or Sufi songs). I enjoyed the maroon color of the painted face of the CD. I admired the Arabic calligraphy of the singer's name, the simple and elegant geometric shapes decorating the center of the CD. I also surprised myself admiring the beauty and the brilliance of  signs and pictures which are usually meaningless to me and almost nobody pay any attention to them. Who read the "Patent" or "Intellectual Property" disclaimers ? But I really didn't read the text, I just looked and admired the shapes of the letters, the words, the logos, etc. Then I turned the CD in my hands and admired the mirror like surface ... Then the amazing following thought arises in my mind...

A simple thought

I know that a beautiful music is engraved on the surface of the CD. I can touch the surface. Then I realize my frustration : without a device to read the CD, I can't access this music. I can touch the CD, play with it, look at it, but without a specific reader, I can't enjoy the music encoded in the CD.
I made also the parallel with human being inner secret, what we call soul or spirit. The Quran has a beautiful term to designate the soul : it is "a breath of God's Own Soul" (و نفخت فيه من روحي) -Surat Sad 38, verse 72- In the inner of each human being there is a great secret, a beautiful song directly insufflated by the Creator itself ! But how can we access to this inner music ? how to uncover this profound secret melody ? Is there any device we can use to hear, to enjoy our inner music as there is electronic gadgets to read a music CD ?

The answer is Yes and this device is Meditation.

When you are in a state of meditation, you disappear as an ego. There is no hindrance to God to descend on you and play your inner music. Unless you are not, God can not play your music. When you are as an ego and you try to grasp this inner secret, you try to hear your inner music; in this very try, you miss. So the answer of the title of this article is : There is no way for us, as an ego, to play our own inner music. But God can do it ... through our meditation.

So don't be as an ego. Be a meditator. Be a hollow bamboo and God will play your inner music. Then you will enjoy witnessing God playing your own music. You will witness miracles happening through you without any act from you. You will enjoy be a harmonious part of this Existence. You will enjoy co creating with God. Nothing big. Nothing that Historians will bequeath to future generations ! No, you will witness very subtle but powerful changes in your own body/mind. In your family, your beloved ones, your environment ... Any thing will come across you, will be blessed by the music played by God through you. So relax. Don't be as an ego. Just be watchful. Be aware and Let the Entire Universe enjoy itself through you ... with you ...  In fact, the boundaries between you and the Universe will fade and disappear. You are One with the Universe. Even if this happen for brief moments, it is a tremendous experience to live. Seekers on the path like me an you are not permanent meditators. We are playing seek and hide with our own ego, our mind. Sometimes we lose ourselves in thinking, but sometimes we have the great opportunity just to be here and now, watching the unfold of our life situation before our eyes. In these moments of great blessing, we are one with the Universe. One with God. What a joy !

But these moments can be very subtle, very fleeting not permanent. And this why they are so valuable. Don't miss them. Just be patient and present, as much as you can. They will happen. Enjoy your inner music !

Sunday, June 1, 2014

The Witness and the Source of Your Emotions

Source of Photo
Eckhart Tolle used to say something like this "If you enjoy something, let's say a piece of music for example, it's fine. Enjoy it; but don't lose yourself in it. After listening, make the music off and see what's happening there, in your own being" In other words Eckhart Tolle and all spiritual teachers make the emphasis on your inner state. Every thing in this world should be a mirror of your inner, should reflect you to yourself. 
I didn't really understand the purpose of this "inner look" nor the meaning of "the mirror" which is the outer world. But this morning I got a new insight into this teaching and I would like to share it with you, with other things related to the same subject.

The rationale behind inner exploration

Yes, nothing of this world or any other world can make you really happy or sad for ever. Your emotion will subside after a while, for sure. If it is happiness, enjoy, but don't cling, since it will not last for long. Sure, this attitude is a wisdom. But there is another profound meaning and a great opportunity in this temporary emotion. If you consider any source of happiness/sadness of this world, you will find that it has nothing special in it. What will make you happy could not affect at all another person. Even, it can make him sad. In fact, the thing or the person that made you happy had just triggered something inside you. There is some "hidden button" this object of happiness pushed and made you joyful. So the source of happiness is not in the outer, but in the inner. The outer is just a trigger, a mirror.

Why mirror ? because something in it has its correspondence inside you and it resonates inside you. This is the opportunity, you found, in the outer world, something "similar" to something inside yourself. So you have to find what has resonated inside.

This is why all spiritual teachers insist that after every emotion, especially when it is strong, you should surf on this wave to explore your inner being. This emotion is a great opportunity to project light on your mind and emotions.  Once you have found the source of your emotion, this little corner of your being is no more in dark, you have made another step towards enlightenment. If you stay at the momentary happiness and you don't go further, you will miss a great occasion offered to grow spiritually. So it is good to sit, meditate and look peacefully in your inner. But be aware, your mind "expelled (by the meditation) by the door can return by the window ...

Some traps to avoid

The first trap your Mind can prepare for you is to start thinking about your emotions. Don't do any psycho-analysis of your being. For example, you can ask yourself "What is in my childhood made me happy and why this music is related to it ?"  No, it's a false route. The mind is not needed here. He can't understand. It's beyond mind. You don't have to think at all. Just close you eyes and look.  Not a big concentration. No, just a gentle, relaxed and joyful inner look. Without any expectation. Without any idea or explanation. Any idea, any expectation will be a barrier. Even if you "see" nothing, after a while, you will see. Your inner state will be revealed to you. It is bond to be. Just be patient. It could take weeks, months, years, who bother ? This very look is a joy. This pilgrimage is worth than any goal or achievement. So don't worry if you can't see.  Your inner eye should accommodate with your inner world, and it could take a while... Why be in hurry ? Just try a look with a relaxed body and mind, and enjoy the looking !

Another trap to avoid is to stop too early your inner investigation. Sometimes the reason why you are made happy or sad by something is not a single emotion or thought. It is usually a chain of thoughts and emotions, each layer leading to the another subsequent layer which is more subtle, hidden behind more and more curtains. So it is really an inner exploration. Be patient and not in hurry. And don't be satisfied with any finding. Always go further. There is always something more. Again, don't search any thing, don't expect anything. Just look. Your inner sight will be more attuned and you will see more details, more deeply. The same simple emotion, will reveal other hidden and more complex feelings. Just sit fully alert and look effortlessly.

The Ladder to Your Inner Being

But I should warn you : this search is an endless trip. All what you can grasp, you can understand, you can find  is not the source of your happiness or sadness. It couldn't be.  If you go on peeling the onion, you will find nothing. Ultimately, there is no source at all of any emotion !  Isn't that frustrating ?  you can't find the source of your emotion even if you go the deepest inside your being ?  

Since the beginning of this article I go on emphasising all the benefits of finding the very source of your emotions and now I am saying that the whole search is futile since you can't grasp the ultimate source ? 

Let's try to make some order in our understanding by classifying human relation to their emotions :
  • Level 0 : at this consciousness level, the man is Mind-Robot. He don't pay any attention to his emotions or feelings. He considers them as useless and a weakness in a world of competition and money gathering. So this man is like a robot just calculating not living at all. This is perhaps the fate of the majority of human beings on this planet :-(
  • Level 1 : more sophisticated, more alive the human being in this state of consciousness pays more attention to his feelings. He enjoys many things Life brings to him : a poetry, a piece of music, a dance, a good lunch, an hour spent with friends, a little walk in the garden, etc. But this human being doesn't pay any attention behind these emotions. What is going on inside his being  ? Why is he irritated by this or that ? why this music brings tears to his eyes ? etc. In this level, man is an Emotional-Robot, more sophisticated than Mind-Robot, but still a robot. 
  • Level 2 : in this state, the human being becomes a spiritual seeker. Now he is more interested in the inner of his being. Like the previous level he enjoys all what Life brings to him, but unlike the previous one, he sees in the outer world  a mirror of his own being. Any time the mirror reflects something, aka resonates with him, he becomes interested. He closes his eyes and tries to see inside. The man is no more a Robot. He becomes aware of his emotions and didn't pay too much attention to the objects triggering these emotions. Objects are neutral but his being is not neutral, his being reacts, so he is trying to understand what in his inner resonates with outer cause of emotion. If someone makes him angry his is not interested to retaliate or defend his position or any thing related to the person provoking his anger. No, he sees inside, trying to understand the source of anger. The person provoking the anger is not important at all. What he said could not irritate another human being. Why ? So, in this Level, the man who got angered is grateful to the person provoking his anger and he starts exploring his inner being. The big consequence of this state of consciousness is that the human being becomes more still, more self centered. He is still subject of emotional reactions but he is learning from each occasion. 
  • Level 3 : The explorer of the inner and the chains of emotions arrives to a state where there is nothing left. Every emotion, every thought when deeply investigated leads to nothing. There is simply a space, a consciousness where all emotions and thoughts are created, then they go on creating other feelings and thoughts, then they subside, disappear as they come. And the human being is there as an observer from the very beginning of the chain, where the first ripple is created in his consciousness until it disappears with all his subsequent ripples. And he realizes that he is not the content of his mind nor the emotions appearing in his being. His true being is the space or the Consciousness where all these thoughts and emotions appear. In this realization,  all his being becomes crystal clear, there is no more dark corner. He realizes his enlightenment.
We can see this classification as steps in human being evolution  :
  • The majority of current human beings on Earth are a mix of Level 0 and Level 1
  • The awakening human beings, still a minority on Earth, are in Level 2. But they can fall, momentarily,  to Level 1 and sometimes to Level 0. They are no yet crystallized, always changing.
  • The enlightened persons, even rarer, are at Level 3. They can't fall back any more to a lower state.

The Ultimate Secret

When in Level 3 you realize that you are the Consciousness behind all what happens and there is nothing in your mind you identified with, you have disappeared. This is a total annihilation. Nothing is left from your previous "I". And in the same moment you disappear you realize also that :
  • You are this Consciousness where all thoughts and emotions appear. 
  • And this Consciousness is not separate from Life itself. 
  • And this Consciousness is not only the same in all human beings, but it is also pervading the whole universe and all forms of Life in it
  • And this Consciousness has no beginning, no end 
  • And this Consciousness is timeless, there no past, no future, just an eternal present
  • And this Consciousness is enjoying Life which is bubbling here and there in the entire Universe
  • And  this Consciousness is also enjoying discovering itself by climbing the ladder of consciousness evolution from the very beginning as star dusts to the conscious human being realizing the level 3 above.
Personally I'm still in Level 2. So I'm not realizing the Ultimate Secret but I'm enjoying the pilgrimage. It is a true joy to explore your inner being, to see how the mind can befoul you. It's a joy to be free from the outer. It is a joy to take every challenge in Life as an opportunity to be more conscious. It's a beautiful game. Enjoy Life and every time you catch yourself drowned in the outer world you try to get out of this unconscious state and be again yourself : the witness.

I would like to terminate with a verse from Quran which I am feeling is talking exactly about the subject of this article :


Which can be translated as :

"We will show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth. But is it not sufficient concerning your Lord that He is, over all things, a Witness?"
Surat Fussilat, Verse 53.

All is here for human evolution : 
  • first step : the man has to see the outer (آياتنا في الآفاق signs in the horizons)
  • second step : the horizons will reflect him to the inner (في أنفسهم within themselves)
  • third step : he will realize the truth (الحق the truth)
  • and the ultimate is to realize than the Truth is the Witness (شهيد Witness)
Of course this is not an official interpretation of the verse from Muslim scholars but my own interpretation. You should have your own. Follow you own heart even if it says something else. Trust yourself. If you are true to yourself, you will arrive to the Ultimate even by a different route. There is no "The Path" leading to the Truth or to God or to the Ultimate. Each human being has his own and unique path but, sometimes, we can feel some similarities between different paths. 

So my dear fellow seeker, enjoy your pilgrimage on your own path !


أنا لست I am not

Source Photo


كيف أكون و ما في الكون غَـيْـرُه
نعم، أنا لست
كيف أكون و ما في الحشا إلا سِرُّه
نعم، أنا لست
كيف أكون و في القلب كَــيُّـه
نعم، أنا لست
كيف أكون و العِشق دَرْبُـه
نعم، أنا لست
كيف أكون و القلب مِلْـكُـه
نعم، أنا لست
كيف أكون و نار الشوق بَـرْدُه
نعم، أنا لست
كيف أكون و من فَـرْطِ فرحي به سَـمَّـيْـتُـه
عَـــبْـــدي و قلت أنـا رَبُّــــه

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

3D or CBR rule !

Source Image : http://minimalmonkey.com/css-3d-cube-tutorial/

In an article labeled “The Wisdom of the Triangle” I stressed the fact that wisdom comes from the transcendence of any duality. This idea is a little abstract. In the current article I'd like to share with you a more practical rule I called the 3-D Rule : Dog/Dreamer/Deep. In fact I experienced this rule the first time in my being as a French mantra saying “Chien/Bien/Rien”, hence CBR acronym. This is why I will share with you the two aspects of the same idea. But be aware, I'm not philosophizing or discussing some theories. The goal is very pragmatic. It is to be in a state of meditation in day to day life. So I am giving to you this “rule” to experiment with it, to play with it, for a while. When it is no more useful, drop it and you will find some other technique until all techniques drop by themselves. You will no more using them.

The meaning I give to words Dog/Chien, Dreamer/Bien and Deep/Rien

Let's start by exposing what I mean by the 3D or CBR Rule

Dog Chien To be a Dog is to follow any thought like a dog following any sent. One moment the dog is here; but after catching a sent he follows it and from one to another sent he finds itself elsewhere far from its original place. So with the man. Following any thought that comes in his mind he finds himself far from its original thought and meanwhile he is absent. He is elsewhere. This image of dog has been given by Eckhart Tolle in one of his meditation sessions.
Dreamer Bien To be a Dreamer is to be Well (Bien in french), the body is relaxed and the mind dreaming beautiful dreams. In the Dog state you are tense but in dreaming state you are relaxed. But since you are unconscious, you are not here either.
Deep Rien To be Deep is not to be shallow. You are feeling your entire body and not just imprisoned in your mind. If a thought comes you don't follow it or identify with it. You stay rooted in your body witnessing the coming of the thought and its subsiding. “Rien” in French means “Nothing”, so you are identified with nothing neither with a thought nor with a dream. So you are nothing material, be it a thought. You are just witnessing, well rooted in your body fully aware of your other states : thoughts, dreams are just passing in front of the mirror of your being. When they are here you reflect them, when they pass you don't cling to them. You let them go. The mirror is again virgin, again clear, again vulnerable, again available, to reflect any thing from this world or to be a vehicle of the Beyond. You are just here, aware, relaxed not wanting or waiting anything. It's a beautiful state. Calm. Relaxed. Open. Awake. Here and Now.

Practical usage of 3-D Rule

Each time you are aware of your being, ask yourself in which state you are, Dog, Dream or Deep ? You can't be in any other state. Either you are following and identifying with some thoughts or you are dreaming awaken dreams or you simply aware not anything else. In the latter case you have nothing to do; just to continue in this state as long as you can. In the former two cases (Dog or Dream), first recognise your state then try to be again present and aware. How to do that ? there are many techniques to regain awareness after loosing presence. Two useful and simple techniques are conscious breathing and body awareness. Just by breathing consciously you are again here and now. Or by being aware of the life in your body and of your sense perceptions you can again be present in the moment. So easy and so useful. In the two techniques, your body become relaxed and your thoughts become loose.

You can use this 3D rule in every moment and every situation when you are not doing anything special. If you are meditating or waiting for the bus or at a coffee shop sipping you favourite  beverage, you can use this 3D Rule to help bring awareness more and more in your life. Multiplying the moments of awareness you bring light in more and more zones in your being until you are fully enlightened.

Some pitfalls and their antidote

In this paragraph I'd like to share with you some pitfalls of your mind and how to overcome them.

Mind's Pitfalls
How to deal with it
Rehearsing for a future situation : before a coming situation your mind starts imagining what it will looks like and starts preparing some answers. Then it begin to loop and repeating the sentence you will say or the act you will do in the future.
It is totally useless and even harmful since you are projecting yourself in the future and imagining what will happen and how to answer to it. Meanwhile you lose your anchor in the present and you can't response to any current situation. You may never attain the future situation, so you are loosing the present moment for an hypothetical future.
Moreover the mind is rehearsing even in simple situations where there is nothing at stake. So stupid. The mind just loves projecting itself in the future instead of living the present moment.
  • First be aware that you are rehearsing for a future situation instead of being here and now
  • Forget about this rehearsing and when the situation arises don't say or do what you rehearsed. Instead be natural and answer to the situation with a fresh reply coming from within or do or say nothing if nothing comes from your heart.
A spiritual ego situation : You have a negative thought and immediately after that you are aware of it and your mind provides you of a "better" thought, more conforming to what you think it is a better mind. For example you come across a man in the street and instantly a thought comes saying “how this man is ugly or this or that”. Then immediately you are aware of this negative thought and you replace it with a new "good" one saying some thing like this “This is a beautiful being created by God, perhaps his external aspect is not beautiful but God's light is surely shining within”. And you feel good !
Why is this a pitfall ? Since you are replacing simply a thought by another one ! By and by the so called negative thoughts will be replaced by other “beautiful” ones. What have you done ? You've just create a new ego, a spiritual ego, more subtle, more dangerous !
  • It is good that you have been aware of the coming negative or “bad” thought, but don't judge it, either good or bad. Just look at it.
  • If a so called good thought replaces the first one, be again aware of this this subtle ego. So be aware of this another thought and don't be identified with it. It is not you. It is just another thought. Let it go, don't cling to it. Don't be proud of it : it is stupid to be proud of any kind of thought !
    By and by the negative thoughts will not come and will not be replaced by any other one. So you are free from thoughts ! At least from these ones. So you gain more space, more awareness, more stillness !